PADDY Graffin, clerk of the course at both Gowran Park and Leopardstown, has praised the jockeys who rode at the Thyestes meeting and the Dublin Racing Festival for the sensible way in which they dealt with the extreme ground conditions presented.

For their part, the Irish Jockeys Association has written to the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board to commend Graffin and the groundstaff at both tracks for their efforts in ensuring those high-profile fixtures went ahead with no compromise on safety.

Graffin admitted there were times when he felt both meetings would not go ahead but, thanks to some creative thinking and teamwork, it was possible to race, even if there was no choice but to cancel Leopardstown on Saturday and move that card to Monday.

Relaying events to The Irish Field yesterday, Graffin said he felt a lump in his throat as he watched the closing stages of the Irish Champion Hurdle last Sunday in front of a capacity crowd.

“I was up in that little rostrum, just past the winning post. As Brighterdaysahead and Lossiemouth came up the straight, I took my phone out and I videoed the crowd roaring in the stands and the two mares coming at me. As long as I am in the game, I still got a bit emotional to see the joy that the racing gave to everyone.”

He praised Leopardstown foreman John McEnaeney, Willie Gibbons and Peter Roe for their co-operation and willingness to “entertain” him when he suggested mapping out a hurdles track which ran right alongside the chase track.

New to the role at Leopardstown, Graffin said he called on his point-to-point experience to find a hurdles track they could race on.

“Over the years I’ve always heard that the chase track at Leopardstown dries out too quickly, so I thought ‘that’s where I want to be’.

“I could see that there was a strip of ground, half a track to the outside of what had been used at Christmas, that had very little wear on it. And that’s where I played.

“I stayed right out to the chase track, so much so that I took away the chase rail up the straight and just made the one rail, the hurdle rail. I don’t know if that been done before, but I had them basically married to the chase track all the way.”

The rain held off on Sunday night, allowing Graffin to poach some fresh yards for Monday’s meeting. “It only became raceable on Sunday night, and we needed every dry hour we had.”

Before racing at Gowran and Leopardstown Graffin spoke to the jockeys and asked them to take the extreme conditions into account.

“I’m very, very lucky that I have the respect and the trust of the jockeys,” he said. “The riders would have lost all respect for me if I had passed the course fit for racing on the Saturday – that was an easy call. The water was up to the ankle of my wellies.

“But on Sunday I told the jockeys ‘If you don’t ride to these conditions we’re all going to look very silly. It’s in your hands to make this work. I have to say the jockeys were respectful and rode brilliantly. It was the same at Gowran Park, where I told them to pull up if they had any doubts at all. There were 15 still in with a chance turning into the home straight in the Thyestes but only five finished. I made sure to thank the jockeys afterwards for how they acted.”